‘Maja ma chho’: PM Modi to local Indians in Italy’s Rome
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 29
Greeted by chants of “Bharat Mata ki jai” and “Modi-Modi” by the local Indian community in Italy’s Rome on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to people in the gathering in his mother tongue Gujarati.
After paying tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rome’s Piazza Gandhi upon his arrival for the G20 Summit today, the PM was asked by a local Indian, “Narendra Bhai, khem chho”.
“Maja ma chho”, the PM replied in videos of his interaction with the locals, which the PMO shared.
The PM was also heard in the videos replying to local Indians in Gujarati with people, holding the Indian Tricolour, greeting him upon arrival in Rome.
PM’s Friday tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at the Rome Piazza Gandhi are in line with his past practice of sharing the ideals of the Mahatma with the world.
In the past too, the PM has been heard quoting Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings in his speeches, not just at home but also at the UN.
Tributes to the Mahatma have been part of the PM’s foreign visit schedules.
In September 2014, when PM visited the US, he offered floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi in Washington DC. The same year, when the Prime Minister was in Australia in November, he unveiled the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Brisbane.
In March 2015, during his Mauritius tour, PM Modi paid tributes to Bapu. Again in April 2015, he unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi in Hannover, Germany. Later in July 2015, the PM unveiled Bapu’s statue in Bagtyarlyk Sports Complex in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
During his November 2015 visit to the UK, the PM paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi outside the UK Parliament. He was accompanied by former UK PM David Cameron.
PM Modi, during his visit to South Africa in July 2016, also visited the places associated with Mahatma Gandhi and hailed the Father of the Indian Nation at Johannesburg as well as Sarvodaya in Phoenix Settlement, which was Mahatma Gandhi’s residence. The PM had retraced Mahatma Gandhi’s train journey in South Africa by boarding a train from Pentrich Railway Station in Durban to Pietermaritzburg, recalling the 1893 incident when Mahatma Gandhi was thrown out of the train compartment on account of his skin colour.
In February 2019, PM Modi and South Korean President Moon Jae-in together unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at the Yonsei University in Seoul.
